Surfside Beach opposes offshore drilling

SURFSIDE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - The town of Surfside beach is yet another Grand Strand town that will outwardly oppose offshore drilling.

The town made that decision at tonight's town council meeting.

"This is our home," said Morella Monte. "This is our children's, and their children's home."

One by one, dozens of locals rained down on town council Tuesday night.

"What we do here tonight also has an impact on everyone north of us, and everyone south of us," said Patricia Magliette.

These locals spent their Tuesday night teeing off, hoping their town would line up with other coastal locations when it comes to offshore drilling.

In July, Governor Nikki Haley joined several other governors in a push to promote offshore drilling.

Now Surfside Beach is letting its voice be heard.

"It's imperative that we protect our coast," said Mayor Pro Tempore David Pellegrino. "Even communities with offshore drilling who don't have spills, still have residuals when they change pipes and different things."

Pellegrino says the problem is, the town's voice is all it's got.

This is a federal issue, and towns don't have much say.

They hope enough of these voices will make enough noise for someone to notice.

"Really, the only influence is that the state legislature and federal governments understands what the people in this area want, what they're going to vote for when it comes for re-election; that's really our push," explained Pellegrino.